Yamaha Grizzly 700

I've been looking at getting a new 4x4 quad sometime in 2024 or 2025. At first I wanted to get a Can Am Outlander 850 because I hear they are just beastly on the trails. So much power. But eventually I found a lot of owners complaining about how unreliable they were. Not to the point of being lemons, but the upkeep is supposedly pretty insane and it can cause it to break down rather quickly if you're not vigilant with it. I plan on doing a lot of deep wilderness riding and I don't want to get stuck way out where I'm walking 20-30 miles back to my truck. So then I started looking at other options and that's when I found the Grizzly 700.

The Grizz has the reputation of being one of, if not the, most reliable quads on the market. Really, the only one that compares is the Honda, but the Honda isn't nearly as powerful or fast. It has an unmatched 10 year belt warranty, not much required maintenance, and is still pretty powerful. About 62-64mph top speed. Too fast for legit trails, but good enough when I get it out on dirt roads to have some fun. Better gas mileage than the Can Am. And an overall wonderful reputation. Its on-the-fly 4-wheel drive looks great too. So I think the Grizzly is the one for me. I'm willing to sacrifice some speed for all that peace of mind.

Anyone else have one or plan on getting one? If so, what do you think of the Grizzly?

 

Skip the Grizzly and get the Kodiak. Significantly cheaper and with less to go wrong and fail on you. A narrower overall width was also an advantage over my buddies with Grizzlies. On the fly 4WD sounds nice but in reality I never ran into a problem having to stop and flip the lever.

Used hard and put away wet for years in the back country of Alaska and it never let me down. I can’t say the same for the Arctic Cats and Can Ams some friends rode.

 

Interesting. I haven't looked much at the Kodiak yet. I know they look pretty similar and I believe the newer ones have the same engine and same on-the-fly 4-wheel drive as the Grizzly (if we compare the 700 vs 700). Otherwise, I'll have to give it more of a look. As far as 'less to go wrong', what does that refer to? What doesn't the Kodiak have that the Grizzly does (when looking at the 700s)? I for sure want power steering.

 

On the base model Kodiak 700 it was always no power steering, center gauge cluster, on the fly 4wd, diff lock, a narrower track width and overall plastics width and no fancy paint schemes and alloy wheels. The only reason to consider power steering is if you’re going to be bashing over large rocks a lot. In that scenario the damping effect it has is a life saver on your arms but otherwise it’s just a gimmick that eventually breaks.

 

I got a ‘21 Kodiak 700 that I wouldn’t sell for any other quad. I live in the middle of the Pisgah forest and use it daily.

It the perfect balance…size, weight and power.
I have owned many other machines as well. Including a Canam Outlander 800xmr. As you mentioned the Canam has a lot of grunt, which it needs to get its heavy ass thru the muck.

I will say this, you just can’t beat that Kodiak. The grizzly is slightly more powerful, as the engine revs out a bit more. The grizzly also has a wider stance by 1”. This makes it a bit more planted feeling than the Kodiak.

The Yamaha RMAX1000 in the pic is also one hell of a crawler. I take this straight up a giant creek bed behind my house. It’s extremely capable.

 

I would buy a slightly used one and save 3k or more. I see the Kodiak for sale all the time from 7-8k and basically new.

I also would look at the Grizzly and not just the Kodiak in the used market.

 

I had a Kodiak 700 eps se for years. Loved that thing. I put grizzly clutch weights in it. It made it have similar characteristics of a grizzly.

 

I loved my Grizzly. It was a 2014 550. I sold it in 2018, I'm sure the newer ones are nicer and faster, but I never had any issues with mine. It only had 59 hours and 308 mi. on it when I sold it though.

If anything I found it to feel slightly tippy, but that might just be the terrain I rode on and my own issues. Loved the CVT in it though, much better than the 3 speed on the Honda that replaced it.

 

For my experience I have no problem saying "yay" for a Yamaha --- Cannot attest to the Grizzly specifically, but I've been beating the snot out of a Big Bear since 2008. Plow machine, log towing, general property mayhem. Only problem I ever had was a clogged air breather line, not the machine's fault.

 

Got a grizz on tracks up at the cabin .
Take the tracks off for the summer , then during the winter I throw the plow and tracks back on .